WASHINGTON -- David Duke, a white nationalist and former Ku Klux Klan leader, blamed criticism of Donald J. Trump and recent controversy over the lawsuit involving his unaccredited university project on a vast Jewish conspiracy in his radio show on Tuesday.While Duke has enthusiastically endorsed the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Trump has disavowed the KKK figure in the past over similar comments suggesting Jews are conspiring against the candidate.On his radio program, Duke said that an "overwhelmingly Jewish" firm is behind a fraud lawsuit against Trump University, which has grabbed headlines in recent days since Trump questioned the impartiality of the judge presiding over the case. The judge, an American, is of Mexican descent, which Trump believes to be a disqualifying factor given his policy proposal to build a US-Mexico border wall.Media coverage of the case is "very illustrative of the Jewish tribal nature," Duke said: "They're like a pack of wild dogs when they go after someone who they see as a threat to the Jewish agenda, as the neocons see Trump as a threat as a non-interventionist."Duke has a long history of characterizing the Jewish community as a nefarious and powerful cabal– a storied anti-Semitic trope. On Tuesday, he characterized "the powerful Jewish establishment that dominates international banking and finance, that dominates media, and dominates our political system" as "absolutely zeroing in now on Donald Trump.""The viciousness of these Jews is unbelievable," he added. "I think this whole Trump University case really exploited, can really expose the entire Jewish manipulation of the American media, the American political process."
